August in the Catskills is Magical...Families welcome!
About the property
- Chateau / Country House
- Bedrooms4
- Sleeps8
- Bathrooms2
- Half Baths0
- Minimum Stay2 nights
4 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, Sleeps 8
This warm log home sits on a hill 500 ft. off the main road secluded from other homes. The property joins state land which makes for endless hiking, birdwatching, herb gathering, meditation walks, cross country skiing and snowshoeing! We have a small pond up behind the house stocked with small mouth bass and serves as a private swimming spot in summer, fed by mountain underground springs! The house faces a south westerly exposure and the sunsets are incredible. We built the house 23 years ago when our family was young. The original house had 2 bedrooms and we expanded as the babies came to 4 bedrooms and added a family room as well. We have a lovely wood stove in the family room with a glass door which keeps all cozy on those cold winter days and nights. There is electric base board heat as well in all the rooms including the half basement. There are two baths. The bathroom on the first level has a shower and tub, and upstairs a wonderful old claw foot tub to soak in after a long strenuous day skiing or snowshoeing! I love to cook and have a worn path in my kitchen on the oakwood floors. All the downstairs is wood floor, oak and pine, while the two bedrooms upstairs is carpeted except for the master bedroom upstairs which is pine flooring. The house has an amber wood glow and feel as soon as you walk into it! There is a queen size bed in the bedroom downstairs, two single beds in one bedroom upstairs, a full in another room and a king in the bigger room upstairs. Lot's of book shelves with great reads. Tons of children's' books. We raised 5 children here in this house and you will feel the joy and warmth in which it was done. A very comfortable home for your time in the Catskills!
Owner
Tess and Tom Pelham
- Response rate:
- 40%
- Response time:
- within a few days
- Speaks:
- English
- Calendar last updated:
- May 19, 2018
About Tess and Tom Pelham
Tom Pelham born and raised in Windham. Attended WAJ Central school. Attended Delhi University and became Tree Arborist to carry on Tom Pelham Tree Service for 28 years. Tess Charbonneau Pelham born in Long Island NY. Family came to the Catskills long ago when she was a baby. Schooled in the city and summered here in Maplecrest, eventually moved here in 1976 and met Tom while working at The Sugar Maples Resort right here in downtown Maplecrest! Were married in 1981, raised 5 amazing children,4 daughters and our youngest Thomas who just left for Colorado who are all out of the nest and living all over the globe, and the rest is history! Tom has worked outside his whole life and we need some warmer weather for part of the year to re-create ourselves and find more possibilities for a livelihood. This home is very dear to us as it is our children who always enjoy coming 'home' to visit. The land is special as is the community. Our families have much beautiful history here and we hope you will discover this for yourselves!
Tess and Tom Pelham purchased this Chateau / Country House in 1990
Why Tess and Tom Pelham chose Maplecrest
A very special place indeed! The winters here can be as exciting and busy or quiet and introspective as you make them. The natural beauty is a wonder and always amazes me. Walking in the back acreage, or across the road at C.D. Lane Park on my snowshoes or sliding through the woods on my back country skis is pure joy as it invigorates and causes me to reflect on the big picture, or just allows me to go inside like the black bear to slow down life a little. This land was a beautiful foresight brought to my Father's attention before he passed to pass on to his family back in the 70's. Many celebrations have taken place here as you will feel and also add to!
What makes this Chateau / Country House unique
This home was built by us, Tom and I along with fathers, brothers, brothers-in laws, friends,children, grandparents. Wood was cut and sawn, milled and prepared to hold us in all it's glory. The tree's are a big part of our lives with this house! The big Larch tree off the deck is a deciduous cone bearing tree and looses it's needles in fall after they turn iridescent orange! This tree I planted when it was 4 ft. tall, after the birth of Iris, our 4th daughter the year we finished this house. She was born upstairs in May of our first season here in this house. Her placenta went down in the hole with the roots of that tree which is now 80 feet tall! That was back in 1990! I only put curtains up in winter in the big windows to keep heat in for there is an amazing natural work of art out each window.
Amenities
- Pets Welcome
- Kids Welcome
- No Smoking
Bedrooms
- 4 Bedrooms, Sleeps 8
- Bedroom 11 king
- Bedroom 22 double, 2 twin/ single, Has 2 twin beds!
- Bedroom 31 queen
- Bedroom 41 double
- Master bedroom is spacious and light with east and west facing windows, pine flooring and kingsize bed.Two other bedrooms upstairs are cozy log walls with peak wooden ceiling. One room has a sunsetting west view looking over Elm Ridge and has a double bed. The other across the hall facing east window, has two twin beds or roll together for a queen.
Bathrooms
- 2 Bathrooms
- Bathroom 1toilet, combination tub/shower
- Bathroom 2toilet, tub
Location Type
- Rural
- Mountain View
Meals
- Guests provide their own meals
Dining
- Dining Area
- comfy seating for 8 people
Suitability
- wheelchair inaccessible
Attractions
- churches
- cinemas
- library
- playground
- live theater
- restaurants
- synagogues
- health/beauty spa
Leisure Activities
- walking
- horseback riding
- antiquing
- bird watching
- sledding
- scenic drives
- miniature golf
- shopping
Local Services & Businesses
- ATM/bank
- fitness center
- groceries
- laundromat
- Babysitter
- massage therapist
- medical services
Sports & Adventure Activities
- hunting small game
- cycling
- golf
- mountain biking
- hunting
- fly fishing
- hiking
- hunting big game
- skiing
- ice skating
- mountain climbing
- ski lift privileges
- cross country skiing
- kayaking
- snowboarding
- snowmobiling
Notes
- I love to cook and have catered and also bake for local Farmers Market. I would be happy to prepare homemade meals for your guests..please inquire about menu/baked goods/desserts etc...!
House Rules
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: Noon
Cancellation Policy
100% refund if canceled at least 60 days before arrival date. 50% refund if canceled at least 30 days before arrival date. You must contact the owner directly to request cancellation.
19 Reviews
Latest reviews
Ideal family house
Perfect location for our son's wedding. House was all we expected and more.
Nelson Haller and his family are the people you want to be in your home/rental! Unbelievable ,considerate, and respectful...can't have much better! Thank you...we are grateful for your business!
Beautiful House
The perfect house to enjoy with friends. 16 minutes to Hunter. The views and woods and remoteness make it memorable. Well maintained and kept.
Great stay in a comfortable well furnished home, beautiful location. Great hosts.
Great weekend for a long weekend skiing at Hunter. The property and Maplecrest are both in beautiful setting, making for a wonderful getaway from NYC. House felt bigger than what we were expecting when selecting the rental which was great for our gathering of eight. We all really enjoyed the large kitchen layout and open connection to dining area for sharing group meals. The house is well maintained and clean, and we all felt very at home. The owner's Tess and Tom were very responsive and communicative to our questions when setting up the rental, which is much appreciated. Would love to do another gathering in the future, and maybe try Windham Mountain which is also nearby.
Cozy, well kept. Perfect ski house
We stayed for the weekend with our three young kids and another family with their two kids. Beautiful views. Convenient to windham, yet quiet and relatively secluded. The house is much nicer than the photos. Large common areas, one very large bedroom and three good sized bedrooms. The house was clean, uncluttered had all the staples we needed to cook some family meals. Note for families, itis not babyproofed (yet), so you do need to keep an eye on the little ones. We would definitely stay here again in the future. Thanks Tess and tom
So happy you booked with us! We want to let you know how much we appreciate your stay and also how much we love to share our place with families like yours! Come again!
So cozy
We absolutely loved staying in this cozy home and wish we were staying longer. We grew up coming to Windham and enjoyed being back. We ate at the Brewery which we always do when We are in town, it is just so comfortable and the food is fine, very simple and great for families with small kids. We also went to The Copper Kettle last night (Thursday) for 1/2 price wings and burritos, we have never been there before but again a great cheap place to bring the kids. Rockin Mexicana was my favorite night, I have always wanted to go and finally had the chance.
We just had a really nice relaxing time.
Thank you for a great stay your home was nice clean and cozy!!!
We so loved having you!!! So good to have amazing guests at our house and property!! Come back again soon!!
Confortable location, needs some TLC
First of all the owners are wonderful and very accommodating, a pleasure to deal with, the house is in a perfect location if you are going to Windham or Hunter Mountains. The house is cute and ... original.
That been said, I feel a few observations are necessary. The house is in need of some TLC: the dishwasher interior was rusty, the front metal panel peeling off. Interior of refrigerator could use some cleaning. The clawfoot tubs interior is rusty at the drain. There were many flies buzzing around. We made the mistake of buying some insecticide and spraying and many more came out! There are many kitchen items, although you will have to mix and match glassware with cute clay cups if you are more than three. Some pans were not really clean and had grease in them. Noise transmission (and lighting) between rooms is substantial as not all walls meet the ceilings in the bedrooms and bathrooms. We didn't feel the house was generally clean. Again, the owners are really nice and I am uncomfortable not being able to post a positive review.
Riccardo G....I realize this is late in responding as my control of our property was out of my hands last winter and I was not diligent upon reading nor getting back to guests.I apologize for the unkemptness of our home at the time you and your family were here. Things have changed since and I thank you for your warm compliments....Best ~Tess Charbonneau Pelham
Location
Our home is located in a beautiful valley, known as Big Hollow or the Blackhead Valley of the Catskill Mountains. This particular road dead ends about 4 miles up past our home. At the end of the road a host of state trails begin known as the escarpment trail, which leads to many incredible views of the Catskills. Black Dome, Thomas Cole, and Black Head are considered the high peaks and Black Dome summiting at approximately 3900 ft. I have hiked these mountains since I was a young girl of 11 years old and am still doing so, also in winter months on snowshoes! The wildlife is abundant with whitetail deer, fox, mink,owls, opossums,skunks, porcupines, black bear, (cozily sleeping during the winter months) and now as of the last 4 years a pair of bald eagles have made their home here along the beautiful Batavia Kill Creek which runs through the valley and is the mouth of the N.Y. City watershed! Windham Mountain Ski area, where I learned to ski along with my husband Tom and our 5 children, is a 10 minute drive, approx. 5-6 mi. down the road. Also a tubing park and ice skating rink at the Adventure Center joining Windhams' ski area! Hunter Mountain Ski area is 15 minutes away also! Our mountain top restaurants are amazing ranging from our own mountain brewery Pub to, great coffee and espresso bars, exquisite French cuisine, Italian, wood-fired pizza and fresh seafood, and Mexican family run south of the border delicious Mexican food! Also not far, about a 20 min. drive along the back roads is famous Kaaterskill Falls in Hainesfalls NY. A breath taking view of the top of the falls is an easy hike from Laurel house Rd. And during this adventure you could X country ski in where the Catskill Mountain House use to stand and see remnants of the old Otis railway which brought people to the house back during the turn of the 19th century! A bit further away in Howe Caves NY, one hour away, are deep in the ground Howe's Caverns to explore and be astonished by. While you are there the Long House, Iroquios Museum is right there and enjoy the wonderful art and hands on arts and crafts for the children to take part in. The peaceful wonder of this valley with all it's wildlife sounds at night, the owl and the coyotes, will give you a sense of wonder and a feeling of security while you snuggle by the fire during your stay here.
Rates & Availability
Additional information about rental rates
Looking for a family or two to enjoy our house for winter season. Animal friendly. House off the main road and has much privacy. If you love nature and enjoy peace and beauty this is a perfect location! Call anytime for inquiries..Tess and Tom....518 819 9631 or tcharby57@yahoo.com